Tre'AWEN and more

No Greenhouse veggies here
Gardening news: March 6th 2010 from a Scranton Newspaper
Shoppers should brace for the attack of the killer tomato prices.

The outcome of Florida's devastating frost in mid-January surfaces in soaring vegetable aisle prices at grocery stores.
"Tomato prices are probably 30 to 35 percent more over the last two to three days," Rocco Galassi, a produce specialist at Gerrity's Supermarket, said Friday. "We're looking at $3 a pound for green peppers next week.
"Prices are about double what they usually are this time of year."
Days of subfreezing temperatures in Florida wiped out about 70 percent of the state's winter vegetable crop, leaving Mexico as the sole supplier for much of the U.S. market.
Steady demand and short supply result in prices that may convince vegetable eaters to forgo tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and bell peppers in a short-term shift to root vegetables, winter squash and other price-stable produce.
"These prices will ride with us right through the end of March and probably factor in April," predicted Craig Pallman, president of Summit Harvest Inc., a Clarks Summit tomato wholesaler.
Before the Florida frost, Mr. Pallman paid $9.95 for a 25-pound carton of Florida tomatoes.
"Right now, you are dealing with a product in Mexico that's as high as $32.95," he said.
Green beans normally priced at $20 a bushel are $50 now and green peppers, normally about $15 a bushel, are at least $40, said Paul Holmes, general manager at DiMare Fresh Inc., a produce wholesaler in South Scranton.
He sees an even longer period of high prices and crimped supplies and predicts retail tomato prices will nudge $4 a pound next week.
"It's definitely projected to stick around until May," Mr. Holmes said. "It's the real deal now and it's going to continue."
Quality issues concern grocers during shortages, resulting in profit losses from inferior products.
"We're having a hard time now getting green beans, and the beans we get are really not our standard," Mr. Galassi said.
"We have whole cases that we just send back," said Gerrity's co-owner Joe Fasula.
The trouble also affects the restaurant sector. Some fast-food chains are serving tomatoes on sandwiches only by request, and sit-down restaurants are reconfiguring menus.
"Restaurants are cutting their orders in half," Mr. Holmes said. "They are calling daily for prices."
Excessive prices eventually recede because products cost themselves out of reach.

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Reasons to have a greenhouse
Steve Carpenter, owner of Jack-O-Lantern Farms in Muscle Shoals, said sales of the salad tomatoes grown there have picked up in the past two weeks. The farm grows tomatoes and other produce in greenhouses on the Tennessee Valley Authority Reservation.
"We went down to the wholesale market the other day, and they were short on pretty much everything, but we have a good supply of everything we grow," Carpenter said.
Claunch said purchasing produce from Carpenter has helped shield him from some of the recent price increases. "We're fortunate to have a supplier like Jack-O-Lantern Farms right here in the Shoals that can provide much of the produce we use," he said.
A fruit that Carpenter does not grow that is helping drive up Claunch's grocery bill is strawberries.
"We try to maintain our menu prices regardless of what our supplies are costing," Claunch said. "We're not like the gas station where they change prices every day. With strawberry prices doing what they are, I'm going to cringe a little whenever somebody orders a strawberry salad until the prices begin coming down in a few weeks."

Okay, I have given you the news and the reasons to have a greenhouse, thank god we have a greenhouse !
Yes it is work to plant and care for vegetables, but it is fun work. We get to eat what we have worked for and the cost is much less! Everyday one of us if not all of us have spent time in our greenhouse, preparing the interior as well as planting. For the most part we have 75% of our vegetable seeds planted. Tomatoes, 3 or 4 different types, bush beans, squash, cucumbers, onions, peas, 3 types, lettuce, spinach, cabbage. I am sure I left out something. The plan is to grow not only seedlings for moving outside into the garden plots but to maintain growing vegetables year round in the greenhouse so we will have a constant supply. This is a new venture for all of us, loving every minute of it to. We are finding out that the thermal mass water barrels are working, yeah. On k and Tony's land is a 30 by 40 plot tilled up by a neighbor for us, he was hired to do this and he will return to turn it over a few more times. On our land we have a 40 by 50 size plot that the neighbor also tilled up for us. Good to have great neighbors. On our section we will grow 2 types of sweet corn as well as pole beans and potatoes. The Rowlands will be planting a little bit of everything in their plot. Our plot by our house will also be planted with asst. vegetables that we have started in the greenhouse. We will be doing an experiment with the vegetables to see if they grow better outside or inside.

I have included a few more pictures of our greenhouse outside and in. Please remember that I love having you all add comments, please share your advice on growing vegetables with us as we are all still learning.

Also on another note, if your inner voice is speaking to you , please listen.
I will tell you that story another day! So you all get busy in your gardens, it is a picture perfect day here while I wait for the rain.

Front of the greenhouse

Tea table

Many seedlings

More seedlings and thermal mass barrels

Planting spinach in pvc pipe tables.